To the editor:

Recently, some acquaintances whom

I admire had a disturbing experience on this island I love.

After experiencing a couple of incidents of vandalism, they put up a wood “No Trespassing” sign on their property. It was torn down in the night.

They replaced it with a more substantial sign, mounted with heavy bolts on an aluminum frame around ¾-inch plywood, on a steel post set in concrete. That sign was totally demolished, again, at night. Someone had to make a very determined physical effort to do so. In addition, mud and dirt were dumped on their porch and thrown on the freshly painted door.

I find this downright creepy.

Thursday, I received a broadcast e-mail inviting me (and probably several hundred other residents of Whidbey Island) to a Spring Equinox “informational picnic” on the beach in Greenbank. The purpose of the picnic is to learn from a group calling itself “Save Our Beaches,” about the “tragic situation for the public use of our beaches and for a historic legacy” as once again, “money is trumping tradition and public rights,” and not just money, but “absentee-owner money.”

Money that is supposedly backed up by “high-paid lawyers who know how to find and exploit chinks” in the decades-old legal mess surrounding ownership of this piece of property.

Every story has two sides. In the movies we know the good guys (local public rights, public rights activists, and tradition — what could be wrong with that?) and bad guys (millionaire absentee owners; high-paid lawyers [there are none]; shady Realtors from the past moving illegal single-wide trailers onto contested property; and passive, corrupt or ineffectual county officials). Sounds simple.

So we are all invited to a peaceful picnic (bring your children!) on someone else’s property. And the invitation and supporting information is at best inflammatory and at worst, downright distorted.

And by the way, this is the site of the vandalism I described earlier.

I am a longtime “lefty,” a supporter of liberal and progressive causes, and I understand why I received this e-mail (from two sources), but I am not inclined to trust folks who put out such uninformed and biased literature as the “Save Our Beaches” group has done. Nor will I be involved with those who threaten and harass people whose interests conflict with their own.

I know the owners of that property to be good, generous and honorable people; Dr. Montgomery is an internationally recognized and respected medical researcher; he has developed treatments that have saved lives and added many years to the lives of thousands suffering with cystic fibrosis and AIDS.

The Montgomerys have family land near their property originally owned by Dr. Montgomery’s Boeing-engineer father, and have lived on the island summers and vacations since the 1950s. Their plan is to retire on that piece of property.

Frankly, our economy is dependent on tourist dollars and on the cash boost provided by our wealthy second-home owners. They employ us to build their homes, to maintain them, and they shop here. It seems more than a little hypocritical to resent them for the property they can afford.

If we are concerned about maintaining public access to the shore, we might consider starting with property that is either for sale or currently owned publicly, instead of chasing after property that has been in private hands for 40 years.

The many arguments in this case must be decided by the parties involved: public and private. Nasty innuendo, bullying and vandalism, along with participation in a group trespass is not constructive.

All in all, considering the many challenges we face in today’s world, surely we can find something more useful to do with our energy.

Christine Nyburg

Langley